Former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish will give evidence to the Hillsborough inquests next week, it has been announced.

The former footballer, who was manager of the club when the disaster that killed 96 Liverpool fans occurred in 1989, is scheduled to appear at the hearing in Warrington next Friday.

Dalglish spoke to the fans in the stadium after the FA Cup semi-final match at Sheffield Wednesday’s ground was called off shortly after kick-off due to fans being crushed at the Leppings Lane end of the stadium.

He was asked by police on the day to speak to fans and he told them to remain calm and stay in their seats.

The new inquests started in March and are now expected to finish in the second half of next year.

Dalglish has previously said he later turned down the chance to manage Sheffield Wednesday because of the disaster.

He said: “I couldn’t take it because of what had happened at Hillsborough.

“The person who offered me the job said: ‘I never thought of that.’ But I can never be in the stadium without thinking of all those people who died on the Leppings Lane terraces.”

The jury is currently hearing evidence on the emergency response on the day and will hear from more ambulance staff next week, as well as police officers who were on duty at the ground on the day.